Could a baseball bat fix Congress?

What could a baseball game have to do with Mississippi's Senate race aside from the usual metaphors? (For instance, we're now well into extra innings as we await word from the Secretary of State's Office today on the certified results submitted by the GOP.)

What could a baseball game have to do with Mississippi's Senate race aside from the usual metaphors? (For instance, we're now well into extra innings as we await word from the Secretary of State's Office today on the certified results submitted by the GOP.)

Roll Call's 53rd Congressional Baseball Game reminded Editor-In-Chief Christina Bellantoni of one thing that's missing in the highly partisan Congress of today. Bellantoni wonders if Congress would work better if lawmakers spent more time together off the clock and less time running back home.

"[W]hen you ask any of the congressional observers or longtime lawmakers what’s changed, the answer is always the same — no one spends any time together anymore," she wrote in a blog post. "Families don’t move to Washington. Members blow out of town like the last day of school each Thursday afternoon, racing to the airports only to return late Monday.”

But Sen. Thad Cochran's time in D.C. and his socializing bordered on criminal to hear Chris McDaniel supporters tell it. Cochran was hammered by McDaniel for spending so much time in D.C. "He's out of touch" was one McDaniel campaign theme. Experts say that's the danger.

“With the advent of the internet, social media, and cable TV, the number of eyes on Congress have increased," Stu Rothenberg said a congressional Democrat told him.

"So, if you’re not in your district there’s a much greater chance your constituents will find out about that in some sort of ‘where is our rep’ news piece,” the Democrat explained. “This puts you in an ‘out of sight, out of mind problem’ and leaves you vulnerable to a challenger who will be at home ‘in touch with his constituents.’”

Not that McDaniel planned to get along in Congress anyway. Another of his campaign themes was "never compromise."